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Experimental evidence on the determinants of citizens' expectations toward public services.

We conducted three randomized experiments to investigate whether and to what extent citizens' expectations toward waiting times for public service delivery are influenced by reference points, either in the form of social or numerical references. Consistent with our theoretical expectations, our resu...

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Published in:Public Administration Review Vol. 85; no. 1; pp. 176 - 192
Main Authors: Bellé, Nicola, Belardinelli, Paolo, Cucciniello, Maria, Nasi, Greta
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Jan2025
Subjects:
Public services
Citizens
Citizen satisfaction
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: Experimental evidence on the determinants of citizens' expectations toward public services.
      aug:
        au:
          Bellé, Nicola
          Belardinelli, Paolo
          Cucciniello, Maria
          Nasi, Greta
        affil:
          Management and Health Laboratory, Institute of Management, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy
          O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington Indiana,, USA
          Covid Crisis Lab and Department of Social and Political Science, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy
      su:
        Public services
        Citizens
        Citizen satisfaction
      sug:
        subj:
          Public services
          Citizens
          Citizen satisfaction
      ab: We conducted three randomized experiments to investigate whether and to what extent citizens' expectations toward waiting times for public service delivery are influenced by reference points, either in the form of social or numerical references. Consistent with our theoretical expectations, our results provide convergent evidence of reference dependence. Specifically, informing citizens that waiting times are longer (shorter) relative to a social reference causes an increase (decrease) in expected waiting times. Additionally, due to an anchoring bias, priming citizens with a higher numerical value for waiting times extends their expected waiting times. Furthermore, in line with the expectancy‐disconfirmation model, citizens' satisfaction with the service is causally impacted by the extent to which actual performance exceeds their expectations.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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